Claire Novak and her Three Dads
by Heytheredestiel
Summary: Claire is helping Sam and Dean on a case when she gets a bitch of a migraine. Cue: Protective TFW


-

Claire stared down at the book later nearly in front of her. Research was a real pain in her ass sometimes. She would rather be out there actually doing something about the problem, than sitting here in the bunker staring at news reports from over thirty years ago.

It had been two hours when the words stopped making sense to her. She was barely able to comprehend what each word meant, but there was no way she could form a coherent sentence out of this random jumble of letters.

That's when she felt it, a deep burning throb right behind her right eye. She winced, moving a hand to massage her temple.

Claire debated taking a short break to maybe take a nap, or get a sandwich. But ultimately decided against it. If she didn't get this done soon, she wouldn't be able to be back in Sioux Falls in time for dinner with Jody two nights later.

The reason she was saying at the bunker was because she had found a case close to Lebanon, it looked like some hardcore witch activity but Claire couldn't be sure. Sam and Dean had offered to help but Claire knew that meant taking whatever it was out for her and making her wait in the car. So, politely, she declined. Instead, just asking for a place to stay so that she wouldn't have to get a dirty hotel room.

Suddenly, Claire stood up. She just needed to turn that light off. Maybe then she could focus. Bad idea, immediately the world around her swam and her eyesight closed with black dots. She would have fallen, had the table not been directly beside her. Grabbing onto the side of the table to steady herself, Claire took a few deep breaths. What was going on? She hadn't felt this horrible in a long time.

Finally, her vision returned to normal and she was able to turn off the lights in the library. Then the rest of wherever else she was able to see, until the only light left was the annoyingly bright glow of her laptop. She hoped Sam and Dean wouldn't mind when they got back from their grocery run. She just... really could not handle all those lights. It was as off they were mocking her, buzzing into her brain until she finally snapped. But she didn't. She quietly sat back down in front of her laptop, pulling her blanket back over her shoulders and resuming her work."Really Cas? I've known you for how long and you still can't tell the difference between Led Zeppelin and Tears for Fears? Man I had faith in you." Dean sighed, though a slight chuckle let the angel know he was not being serious.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I just don't have the same dedication to this as you do." Cas shook his head, laughing fondly at his friends passion for music.

They rode in comfortable silence for a while, the rumble of Baby's engine and Tears for Fears blasting through were the only sounds coming from within the car. They had left Sam at he library to pick up more books in case Claire didn't have enough back at the bunker. And Sam was happy to do so, desperately wanting to get away from his brother and Castiel's blatant flirting. He had Castiel's car, so when he was done he could go ahead and get to the bunker.

Dean parked the impala a good distance away from the actual bunker, a precaution in case anybody recognized their car. Which, apparently, many hunters did. And if words got around with hunters, it also got out with monsters, Demons, angels, and anything else that might want to attack them.

Both men got out of the car and, after making sure no one was watching, headed back toward the bunker, hands full with sweets, essentials, and whatever the hell it was that Sammy had insisted they get.

Dean opened the door for Cas, gesturing for him to go inside first. "What a gentleman." Castiel rolled his eyes, stepping into the bunker only to be met with complete darkness.

"Well I..." Dean entered behind him, and Cas knew he was wondering exactly the same thing as himself.

"Claire?" Castiel called, slight panic immediately setting in. The brothers hadn't been gone that long, maybe two hours at most and Castiel had met them there, arriving back from a hunt over in Omaha. If anything had happened here, it must have been fairly quick.

Dean flicked on the lights, searching for any signs of the girl he had seen just hours before. If anything had happened to her... Dean couldn't think of it. He had decided to leave her alone here. He thought she would be able to handle herself! After all-

"Claire!" Dean's head spun around at the sound of Castiel's yell and his quick footsteps running down to the library. That's when Dean saw her. At least he assumed it was her.

There was a figure sitting on the floor in the corner of the library shaking and leaning against the wall. The only sign of it being his (pretty much) daughter was the blonde wavy hair traveling down her back.

He raced down right behind Cas to get the girls side. When he got to her, Castiel was slowly lifting her head up to face them.

Tears were streaming down Claire's unnaturally flushed cheeks, and the second she opened her eyes she winced, immediately squeezing them shut again with a smile cry.

It all but broke the two men's hearts. Wordlessly, Dean scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the hall and into the guest bedroom. When he set her down on the bed, she curled further into herself, mumbling hushed apologies.

"Claire, you're alright. It's ok. Please just, tell us what happened, what's going on?" Cas begged, moving to brush a piece of hair from her face.

"It hurts. So bad." she choked out, barely managing to sit up against the headrest.

"What hurts?" Dean but in, giving her quick once over. It didn't look as if she had any injuries. What could be causing her this much pain?

"Head." She whispered, letting out a small whimper.

Cas looked over at Dean confused. "Is it possible she sustained a head injury while you and Sam were gone?" he asked. Dean shook his head.

"Nah, I think she's got a migraine. Sammy used to get them pretty frequently. It would piss the hell out of dad. Cas, I need you to grab a trashcan and bring it over to the side of the bed. I'll text Sam and get him to pick up some Advil really fast. Claire, just hang in there kiddo. It's gonna be ok." Dean assured her, watching as Castiel immediately sprang into action to get the materials he needed in case Claire got sick.

[Pick up some Advil and get home ASAP.]

Sam's response arrived fairly quickly.

[On my way now. You ok? Claire ok?]

[Migraine, I'm not exactly sure how to help her. And Cas isn't exactly a huge help.]

[Be there in ten]

Dean turned back to Claire who had her knees pulled up to her chest.

"How you feeling?" He asked, concern filling his eyes.

"Peachy." She snapped, giving Dean as deadly a glare as she could muster.

"Oh ok. So better." he shrugged, flicking off the light and heading back over to the side of the bed, where Cas had pulled a chair to sit. Dean preferred to just sit on the far end of the bed.

"Sam'll be here soon. And he's bringing the painkillers so-"

"Dean I really appreciate you. But please for the love of God shut up." Claire sighed, massaging her temple with her hand. Dean nodded, smiling slightly. At least she was speaking in full sentences now. It was progress!

Sam arrived not long after, and immediately kicked Cas and Dean out. When Castiel tried ti argue, Sam promised they would be allowed back in once Claire was able to move her head without feeling like she was going to fall out of the bed.

"I say we just let Sammy do his thing. He's more experienced with this stuff." Dean defended his brother, as Castiel grumbled.

"Did you not care for him?" Castiel raised an eyebrow. He hadn't meant to sound rude and Dean knew that but it still hit a sore spot in him.

"Well we were rarely ever just at a motel or in Baby. Dad always tried to stay as busy as possible so he just kinda threw some ibuprofen at him and told him to sleep it off. I wasn't always there." Dean sighed, looking down at his shoes. He still felt slightly guilty at not always being by his brothers side when he went through things like this. They looked awful.

So they sat outside the door to Claire's unofficial room, waiting for their permission to re enter.

It was when Castiel heard the unmistakable sounds of retching that he decided he couldn't just sit by anymore. With a flick of the angels wrist, the door to Claire's room flew open to reveal Claire leaning over the trashcan that was placed by her bed and heading into it, Sam rubbing circles into her back and trying (failing) to tie her hair up with a scrunchie he had found.

Cas was by her side in a second, taking the scrunchie from Sam and tying Claire's hair back into a long ponytail. The second Claire stopped heaving, having brought very little up (they would have to discuss her eating habits later) she immediately wrapped her arms around Castiel's torso, tears once again streaming down her cheeks.

The brothers just watched from the doorway, concerned. They understood there was little they could do to help, but it still hurt to see how vulnerable she was in that moment.

"I'm sorry, Cas. I'm so sorry. It's just-" Claire sobbed, as Castiel ran his hands soothingly through her hair.

"Shhh it's alright." he cooed, still holding onto Claire tightly.

Dean almost smiled, Cas would make an excellent father. Sure, he was already a kind of makeshift father to Claire but Dean knew he had the potential to actually raise a child. Not that he ever thought he would have the chance, what with their lives being... Their lives.

Sam and Dean left as Castiel continued to calm Claire down, deciding they should probably make dinner.

"I could order a pizza?" Dean suggested, already starting to dial the number for Pizza Hut.

"No, nothing too greasy. Oatmeal and Coffee should do it." Sam decided, nodding toward the kitchen. His brother shrugged, deciding to let him take the lead.

So Sam got together four three large bowls of oatmeal (He felt bad about not making Cas one, but he technically didn't need to eat) and coffee and set it out on the table to cool off. Castiel appeared a moment later.

"She's sleeping now, she should be able to eat when she wakes up." Cas supplied, sitting down beside Dean at the table."I think that's it." Claire dusted off her hands, packing the last of her bags into the trunk of her car. She smiled at the three men standing in front of her.

"Again, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I wish I could have-"

"Dont worry about it. We're just glad you're alright." Sam interrupted, a sympathetic smile on his lips.

Claire wrapped her arms around the moose of a man, pulling him into a tight hug which he returned.

She look to the other two men with an arm outstretched, a silent invitation in a group hug, to which they obliged.

"Thank you. I love you guys." Claire admit, squeezing the three men as tight as she could before letting go and heading back to her car.

She hadn't expected and actual response. Much less Dean smiling and saying, "Love you too, Kid." but she savored it anyway.

"I'll see you boys soon. Don't get yourselves killed." She warned, climbing into the front seat and shutting the door behind her.

The boys waved goodbye to their collective (Practically) daughter as she drove off back toward Sioux Falls, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind her.


End file.
